Samsung Unveils New SGH-W510 & SHG-F268 Eco Friendly Cell Phones [W510 Becomes Samsung’s First Bio-Plastic Cell Phone]

Samsung have announced two new, seemingly entry level 'green' handsets
in the form of their SGH-W510 and the SHG-F268 cell phones which feature
a range of eco-friendly manufacturing considerations such as, in the
case of the W510, the use of bio-plastic materials obtained from corn
(the W510 will be the first handset from Samsung to feature
bio-plastics), and the omission of environmentally hazardous materials
such as mercury, lead and cadmium.Whilst the W510 comes with body made
of bio-plastics - and therefore negates the use of petroleum in the
manufacturing process - as well as being designed to be free of
materials mercury, lead and cadmium Samsung's F-268 is rather less
convincing in terms of its apparent green credentials in offering an
alarm function that prompts users to remove its charger on the event of
its battery being fully replenished and, according to Samsung also meets
'Energy Star requirements as well, which [are] strict energy-efficiency
guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US
Department of Energy ' though, to be fair, the F268 also comes free of
both BFRs(Brominated Flame Retardant) or PVC.What is not known at this
stage, however, is whether the W510 also comes with a similar energy
efficiency rating or, for that matter, the F.268's charge alarm (a
strange omission from Samsung's press release that would indicate that,
for some curious reason, it doesn't - but that's pure speculation on our
part at this stage).'Samsung is striving to continue to be a strong
corporate citizen that contributes to environmental sustainability,'
said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung's Telecommunication Business,
who introduced Samsung's new W510 and F268. 'Now we are trying not only
to launch more environmentally-conscious products with more renewable
material and less energy consuming, but also to expand proactively set
up a phone recycling system.' [sic]

Samsung are yet to reveal the specifications of either of their new
green handsets - both of which are slider in format - however our
suspicions are that they will fall very much into the entry-level
category (the lack of any released specifications alone underpin these
suspicions) though Samsung has indicated that both the W510 and the F268
will be made available to the Korean and Chinese markets (respectively)
this month (June 08).